


Dazed and Confused.

by LaPetiteMorteKitty



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: F/M, Idol!Shin au, NEET!Momo Au, Power Swap, eye power swap, virus!kano au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 16:43:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3495542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaPetiteMorteKitty/pseuds/LaPetiteMorteKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All that Kisaragi Momo wanted was a nice peaceful life. She'd been living in seclusion for almost a year now with only her cat and the mysterious cyber program Shuuno to keep her company, and a dream of let's playing in her heart. Sick of living in her Idol brother's shadow, she wanted to make a name for herself. As relaxing as this life was, luck was not on her side and now she must venture forth on a quest to replace her keyboard and leave the house for the first time since she locked herself away. But once she steps outside the door, things will never be the same. </p><p>(AU where most of the dan has their powers switched, gentle sprinkling of kanomomo and possibly other ships as this goes along)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let's Play Daze

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank my friend/senpai Gogopri for helping plan this AU in the early stages.

The dark room echoed with incessant clicking of keys and mouse buttons, only stopped for the occasional glugging of a bottle of soda. The light of the screen reflected off the lenses of of the girl’s red framed glasses. Her eyes focused on the task at hand, her copy of Sony Vegas trying to compile footage of a massive recording session. A wonderful feeling was welling up inside of her. “This is the one…” she murmured to herself. “This one will get me views for sure.”

 

Kisaragi Momo was sure that she’d finally get noticed.

 

After months of isolation and at least a ten thousand yen spent on recording equipment, she’d sat down that day to record a few hours worth of her playing Arrow Boy, and finally, the video footage was compiled with her commentary into her ideal let’s play. Learning English was hard enough, but to reach a wider audience, she would need to speak more than her native Japanese. She was sure the video would get seen by someone and get shared. She just needed the video to export and then she would upload the parts to YouTube one by one.

 

One thing did worry her, however. And that was that _he_ hadn’t shown up for a while. Sure, this was a late night recording in an attempt to make him think she was going to sleep, so maybe he wouldn’t notice her messing around with the programs this late. It was times like this where she wished her computer was a bit newer so it wouldn’t take so long to format the files.

 

She yawned, tired from all the work she’d put into it the ideal first let’s play. She was sure she could just leave the computer running while she slept a bit. She deserved a bit of rest. Scooting back over to the bed, she got out of the swivel chair, removed her glasses and plopped face first onto the bed, drifting into slumber with thoughts of her favorite games reminding her that her NEET life wasn’t so bad after all.

 

~*~

 

“Kekekeke…” Chuckled a voice from the speakers on Momo’s computer. It sounded like a boy. “Sleeping in again, eh, Master? How laaaaaaaaaaazy.” Windows started to pop up left and right, navigating into a folder titled “Momo’s rise and shine folder” and the files highlighting. “Hmmmmm, how about we try… this one!”

 

The speakers blared, letting out a loud, high pitched tone that startled awake not only the redhead, but also her orange cat, who proceeded to jump up, clawing her breasts in the process.

 

“AAAAAH! Ichi…-go! Stop it!” She managed to pull the cat off of her after a moment, watching it glare and just walk away, before turning to the laughing figure in grey on her screen. “Uhhhhhhhhhgggggggg! Shuuno! Can’t you let me sleep just this once?!” Inspite of her yelling, the “virus” wouldn’t stop laughing. “Come on, it’s not funny... “ She pouted, waiting as the laughter slowly quieted.

 

“Oh, that was great. Never would have expected the furball to have gotten that frightened too!” He wiped pixelated tears from his eyes. “Calm down, Master, it was just a little prank. You know, if you would have just left the computer off at night, you wouldn’t have to worry about this. But no. You just had to get up and start browsing. You weren’t looking at _those_ manga again, were you?” Shuuno gave her a disappointed look.

 

Her cheeks flushed. “W-what, no! Can’t you see I’m obviously working on something else?” It’s been like this for a year now. She should never have opened that email at school. It offered her a gift card to a really nice book store and she was hoping to get some new manga. But no, instead it was a file that installed itself onto her flash drive. The moment she plugged it in at home, the grey-black haired boy materialized before her eyes.

 

Ever since then, the virus took it upon himself to bother her daily. While he had helped hack the school website to boost her grades at one point, that didn’t matter. She’d dropped out a while ago. School was boring and no one noticed her there anyway… Now she just stayed in her room all day. Just her, her rather unaffectionate cat named after one of her favorite anime protagonists, and Shuuno. If he wasn’t setting unreasonably loud wake up alarms and mocking her about the random hentai searches in her browsing history, he was deleting files, password locking folders, and just being generally annoying. But nothing she ever did would make him go away. She was certain she couldn’t delete him and that nothing short of destroying the computer would change a thing.

 

“Oh, yes, you do appear to be up to something.” He pulled up the Sony Vegas window. It wasn’t finished exporting the file. This wouldn’t be good. “Hmmmm, you recorded without me? How inconsiderate, Master!” He pouted. “You know I’ve been on the internet for a while, I could help you improve these like, a million times over!” His hand was getting close to the “cancel” button.

 

“N-no!” All the work compiling the episode would go to waste if he touched that! She reached for her glasses, only to knock them off the table and slip out of bed onto the floor. “Shuuno, stop it!” She crawled about, looking for the red rims in the darkness of her room, taking a bit to find them before she could actually pull them on.

 

“Now, now, Master. You won’t get views like this. You need to get serious.” Click. All that compiling had gone to waste. “Now, let’s get a fresh start okay?” He closed the program, all the unsaved data from the recording session obliterated in one move.

 

Momo looked up at the screen, in pure shock. “All of last night’s recordings… gone..?” She climbed back into her chair, scooting back to the desk, checking all the folders she could access on the computer. “Shuuno, did you really…!” No matter how many folders she opened, she couldn’t find the files anywhere. Not even in the recycle bin. “Shuuno… I was up until 5am editing that footage.” She frowned. “I’m never going to get noticed on the web…” Resting her head on the desk, she sighed. That was about 4 hours of recording and probably about 6 of processing, all gone.

 

The dark haired virus floated down to the bottom of the screen, frowning. “Sorry, I…. just felt a little left out since you recorded without me… I guess I got a little carried away.” He glanced away guiltily. “I’ll help you record new footage, I promise. I’m sorry…”

 

With a groan, Momo lifted her head and looked at the cyber boy. Admittedly, quitting because of some lost footage would make all the time and effort she put in pointless. She couldn’t give up now. “Alright, alright, don’t get so mopey. We’ll record more footage later.”

 

Shuuno perked up at this. “Great! Now, what should we record. Maybe you should buy a new game and try it! Get some footage out there for a game people have just gotten will definitely get you more views!”

 

“No, Shuuno. The basic rule of let’s playing is that you want to play games that you like and give genuine reactions. It’s part of why the streamers at Vinesauce are so cool. They are all really genuine about what they do and that is why they have such quality streams.”

 

“Is that the ones where they intentionally corrupt games, have that one swedish guy who does the bad russian impression, and they shout about ‘who’s been drawing dicks’?” Shuuno opened paint and started drawing a phallus until Momo closed the window. “Awww, you’re no fun.”

 

“Well you shouldn’t make fun of the people I watch in my free time. But no, I’m going to play what I want.”

 

“Well… oh, how about a facecam? A lot of really good let’s players face--”

 

“Nononono! No one wants to see me. My face must be like, person repellant. No one noticed at school, so why would it get me noticed online?” She hid her face in her hands, sliding them under her glasses. “Especially when I look so dorky…”

 

He frowned, hovering closer to her. “Oh, come on now, Master. You’re too hard on yourself. You’re very cute. If anything your glasses add to your charm.” He opened the browser, getting her to her tumblr dashboard. “See, that Markiplier guy you watch has glasses, and people love him! Trust me, you’d do just fine.”

 

She lifted her head, blushing again. “W-what do you know, you’re just a virus!”

 

“But I’m your virus~” He winked at her, causing her to groan. He had to admit that seeing her get this flustered was amusing. “But, is that a ‘no’ on the facecam?”

 

“Obviously…” She got up from the chair and flopped back down on the bed. She’d only gotten about 5 hours of sleep in the past 24 so this wasn’t going too well. She wasn’t in the mood to record again yet, and she doubted that Shuuno would let her sleep so easily. So, why not watch television?

 

“And in entertainment news, the hit teen idol, Kisaragi Shintaro, has just released his latest single!” She groaned again, rolling onto her stomach.

 

That was why she shouldn’t watch television. It just reminded her of her brother. He was everywhere. Their mom giving him tons of praise for his grades, the media covering his career like there was nothing better to do, all this attention, always focused on him. She didn’t care if he was a straight A student, or an idol. She just wanted the attention to be on her for once.

 

Hearing about his accomplishments just reminded her of why she secluded herself. She didn’t need to go out and make friends or go to school, she could just teach herself things and make friends online. She always seemed more interesting there and no one had to know who she was. After all, a sudden influx of “wow, can you introduce me to your brother???” messages would probably push her into a deeper seclusion.

 

This was also why she wanted to become a let’s player. She could build a name for herself online, never having to reveal her true face or name to random people online, and once she had a following, she’d be able to earn a decent living from it as well. It was the perfect plan.

 

But she was far from that point in her life. She had all the equipment, it was now a matter of making content that people enjoyed and earning a following. She wasn’t going to get that just laying around. She turned off the television again, returning to the computer, bumping the table in the process. “Shuuno, we have to record!” She looked up to see him spazzing. “Shuuno, what’s wrong?”

 

“... Master, Look at the keyboard…” He sounded almost in pain.

 

Momo looked down, her soda from the night before was spilling all over her keyboard. “Oh shit!” She grabbed as many tissues as she could and started wiping it down. “Please be okay, please be okay!” She rapidly attempted to type out something out, but only about 3 or 4 keys would work. “N-no! This isn’t happening.”

 

Shuuno just looked down sadly, only to look back at her and smile weakly. “Well, those are some real ‘sticky keys.’” His weak chuckle was immediately killed by a glare from Momo. “Okay, okay, this shouldn’t be a problem. It was getting old anyway. We’ll order a new one! And it will be here…” He zipped across the screen, opening as many technology store sites as he could. “Oh… oh no…”

 

Momo looked at all of the sites. None of them would deliver for a few days. Why did that festival have to happen now? “Oh, come on! How am I supposed to use my computer without a keyboard? I need to record and edit those videos! Ahhhhhhh, and my blog….” She looked at the keyboard sadly. What was she going to do without her computer? Watching TV was clearly not a good option, and waiting for 3-4 days would drive her crazy.

 

“Well, I could do your editing for you, just give me commands and--” He noticed her glare. Considering he just deleted her files, this wasn’t something she’d have faith in. “R-right…” He thought for a moment, a light bulb materializing over his head at a realization. “Master! It’s not hopeless!” Momo gave him a hesitant look. “Even if the stores won’t deliver, they are still open today! Let’s go out, get some sun, maybe even go to an amusement park! Come on!”

 

“Shuuno, no. I’m not going back out there and you know it!”

 

“But Master, if you don’t, you’ll be sitting in your room for the next few days with nothing to do. Just letting all your stuff idle while I have access to it…” The look of fear in her eyes was apparent. “Guess we’re going then, come on, plug in your phone and we’ll go out together, okay?”

 

Momo didn’t want to leave. She liked the comfort of her room. But as she plugged in her phone and saw the cyber being forming on the screen. It was either go out and face the world, or wait without use of a computer. She got up, pulling on a pink hoodie, and grabbed the phone and a pair of earphones before shoving them in her pocket. Just this one time, she would go outside.

 

 


	2. Idol Daze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo begins her journey to the mall and recounts some past events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this taking so long, been trying to catch up on somethings and ended up taking so long that the new novel came out and it effected what happened with some character interaction.
> 
> Also trying to write German when I haven't in years was a little difficult.
> 
> Either way, hope you enjoy :3

“Uuuugh… What is with this heat…?” complained Momo as she made her way along the sweltering sidewalk.

 

“Well, Master, maybe if you didn’t have that hoodie on you wouldn’t be in such a state. It’s like… 90 degrees out!” The voice in her headphones shouted at her, appearing from behind some of the apps on her phone. “Come on, you’re going to make the phone overheat.”

 

“Shuuno, you’re over reacting, it’s not that hot out.” Shuuno’s immediate response was to pull up the weather app, showing the temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. It was indeed 90 degrees, Fahrenheit, it was near 32 degrees Celsius. She never was good with Metric to Standard conversions. “But I have to use the hood. My glasses don’t have transition lenses like those new ones do.” She looked down. “I also don’t really want any of the people I used to go to school with to recognize me….” She pulled her hood further over her face.

 

“Oh, come on, not like anyone from school would recognize you anyway.” Scoffed Shuuno, until he noticed that she was sulking now. “N-no I didn’t mean it like that, Master..! Don’t be sad!” He panicked a bit. “Alright, I know that this not how you planned to spend your day, but think of it this way. You’ll be home soon, you’re going to have a nice, shiny new keyboard, and you aren’t completely cut off from the computer right now. This is a ‘Smartphone,’ right? You have data and stuff on it, so you can get connected to the internet! So find something that’ll make you happy online?”

 

“R-right.” She flipped the phone into widescreen view and opened her YouTube app. It didn’t take long for her to select a video. And then…

 

“Hello everybody! My name is Markiplier and welcome to--” The voice resounded through her earbuds. Shuuno rolled his eyes as Momo started watching the video.

 

“I could have guessed you were going to do that. You and your video games.” He floated around the screen, pretending to poke the face on the video. “Why’d you have to go back and get your 3DS anyway, you aren’t going to be playing while you’re out.”

 

“Well, I don’t get out much, so I figured now would be a good time to get streetpasses on it to enhance my gaming experience and unlock more stuff. It’s worth getting a few now as opposed to never getting a chance again.” She flicked at Shuuno to try to get him off the screen. “Now let me watch this video, I can tell this is going to be good!”

 

Shuuno was a bit surprised at how adamant his master was about staying inside. “Oh yeah, that thing does have wireless capabilities, doesn't it?” A lightbulb went off on his head again. “Hey, does that mean that I could go into your 3DS and take over the games? I know you have that one game with the guy and the sword. That would be grea--”

 

“I would shut off my wireless signal so fast, I don’t want you corrupting my save data.” She glared at the smaller boy, who was now suddenly in a green tunic with a sword.

 

“But Master, it’s dangerous to go alone. Take me!” He slashed his sword to mimic the game. “I could be really helpful, I know it!”

 

“No I can play my games on my own, besides you might not respawn if you die! And furthermore-- How’d you do that?” She stared at the boy in green confusedly. “Where’d you get those clothes from?”

 

“O-oh this? Well, I’ve been around for a while, so I figured out how to alter the base coding slightly. Like… I don’t mess with how I look physically, but I kinda like playing dress up.” He spun around, now wearing a red shirt, blue overalls and a red cap with a S on it. “It’sa me! Shuuno!” He actually got a slight chuckle out of her that time. “Hahaha, there’s the smile I like to see! You look so much cuter when you smile, Master!” He smiled.

 

The words sent Momo into a fit of embarrassment. “N-no, Shuuno, I’m not cute!” She pulled her hood down as far as she could. “Stop iiiiiiiit!”

 

Shuuno snickered. “Awwwwww, what a cute blush!” A groan was audible from the NEET’s mouth. “Don’t be so modest, you look-- M-master watch where you are going! Look o-- Oh…” He flinched as he watched Momo walk head first into a streetlight. “M-master…” His clothes switched back to to his usually greyish black jacket. “Master, you need to pay attention to where you’re going. You’re already kinda a klutz, we don’t need you breaking your glasses here. You’re pretty much blind without them!”

 

“You’re exaggerating. I don’t need these glasses that much. Only for reading.”

 

“You thought your cat was a pillow and it clawed your face when you laid on it.”

 

“Shuuno…”

 

“And then on the way to the bathroom you fell down the stairs.”

 

“Shuuno, I get it!” She sighed, adjusting her glasses and hood. “See, this is why I shouldn’t go outside.”

 

“Master, you just need to focus on where you are walking. Maybe you should listen to some music instead of watching videos.” Shuuno was admittedly getting a little annoyed at sharing his screen.

 

“Well, considering you’ve been talking over the episode anyway, I should wait until I get home so I can actually pay attention.” She exited out of the video, selecting the music section of her phone. She selected the first album that looked interesting to her. It was one of the Starbomb ones.

 

Shuuno groaned. “Oh my god…” He rolled across the screen. “Isn’t this those two guys who have that channel together? The ones that sound like they are constantly flirting with each other?”

 

“Arin has a wife.” The volume increased. A pathetic attempt to drown out Shuuno. “It’s all just an act because it’s funny. It’s pretty amusing really.”

 

“Suuuuuuure. They are the ones with the D club, right? Why would guys show each other their…. you know, if they don’t like it? You know?”

 

“That’s the point.” Another boost of the volume.

 

Shuuno lowered the volume again. “Jeeze, what is it with you and video games. It’s pretty much all you talk about or do. What’s so important about this?”

 

At this line, Momo stopped walking, pausing her music. “Shuuno…. I don’t expect you to understand. Let’s playing is more than just messing around with video games. Regardless of if you’re doing a serious play through or just a random stream of some shit game, you’re doing it to entertain people. It doesn’t matter if you’re a YouTube partner and make your living off of it or not. The entire point is to make people happy.” She looked away from the phone. “There are people out there who feel that life is just a little bit better after watching some of these videos and knowing there are people out there that care. So please…. don’t question why I take video games so seriously and why I want to be a let’s player. I know it’s going to take a lot for me to get noticed, but I want to be that person who makes someone’s day a little more bearable. I can’t be there physically for people, so I’ll reach out digitally. Thats all that matters. So please… just stop…”

 

Shuuno went silent while Momo increased the volume slightly again. He noticed her voice catching as she explained this. It was then that he realized, he didn’t know much about Momo prior to when he hopped on her flash drive and followed her home. By the time he showed up, she was already really into video games and let’s playing. It was obvious that these were important to her, much more than just a gaming obsession. It made him realize how much it actually hurt when he’d deleted her recordings, and caused him to cringe. He wouldn’t delete those recordings again.

 

“Soooooo… How about we go back to brainstorming for your videos. I know that facecaming is out as an option. So, what about a versus?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You know, you racing someone else to complete a goal.”

 

“I don’t have anyone to play with, Shuuno. You seem to forget that a lot.” She sighed. “I don’t exactly have friends or connections to other let’s players.”

 

“Well, you could race me? You could be Josh and I could be Tyler.” He changed his code so his hair was blonde. “This shit is BANANAS, B-A-N-A-N-A-O.” He chuckled. Something about the word banana amused him.

 

“Shuuno, I told you already. You can’t go into my game systems because you might corrupt the data.” She sighed. “Although your impression of him is spot on. And you look pretty good as a blond.”

 

“Thanks!” He smiled, and just let his code revert back. “Too bad that transformations like that are hard to pull off.” He went back to thinking. She had to know someone she could play with. “Master… what did you used to do before I showed up?” It was a valid question. Momo was already into gaming by the time he’d showed up.

 

“Well…. I spent most of my middle school years playing games and my childhood watching anime. No one really talked to me much… well, except for my brother’s friends.” She continued walking. “It was kinda nice for a while. Onii-chan made friends with these two upperclassmen and this one girl in his class. They were pretty cool. Haruka tried to help me with my homework, and failed. Ayano tried to teach me how to cook…. and that didn’t go well. But Takane. Takane seemed really harsh and rude at first, but she was the one who got me into gaming. She had this one game, called Dead Bullet, she was soooo good at this. She said she one second place in a tournament! She’s so cool!”

 

Shuuno’s eyes widen at her words. “That name… YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH LIGHTNING DANCER ENE?!?”

 

“Shhhhhhh! Not so loud! You’re gonna give me a headache… Besides, she seems kinda embarrassed about that fact outside of the internet and our private gaming sessions…. Then again that may have to do with Haruka being in the room….” She smiled. “Those were the days.”

 

“Master…. what happened with those friends of Shin’s? I haven’t seen them once since I moved in.” Momo froze up. “Master..?”

 

“I don’t know… Things have been really different since the accident.”

 

“Accident?!”

 

“Yeah, it was really weird. The school bus they were in was on the freeway, and it swerved and crashed into the mall. It was some Trauma Team shit if I do say so myself. Like… buses don’t usually crash into malls--”

 

“Master, what happened with your brother and his friends, please stay focused.”

 

“Okay, okay. Well, they lived. All his friends and the teacher did. But… after that… I don’t know what happened. It might have been the near death experience, but they stopped hanging out with me after the accident… A few months later talent scouts came out for my brother to make him into an idol, and now I barely see him… He even had a concert last night…” She glanced at the sky. ‘ _Shintaro… what happened…?_ ’

 

~*~

 

The cheering of the crowd echoed through the back halls of the stage. All cheering the same name.

 

_Kisaragi Shintaro! Kisaragi Shintaro! Shintaro! Shintaro! Shintaro! Kisaragi Shintaro!_

 

The louder they got, the quicker he wanted to get away. A red blur sped through the corridors until he finally burst through the dressing room door.

 

“Oh, Shintaro! You were great out there today!” A brunette girl smiled at him. “The crowd just loves you!”

 

Shintaro looked her and grinned back. “Yeah, Ayano…. They sure do.” His voice was laced with a gentle sarcasm. The raven haired male plopped down in his chair, undoing some of the buttons on his suit. “You know it’s just a fluke…” His expression quickly returned to a frown. “They don’t actually like me for who I am and you know it. It’s the same way with people from school.” He looked over to her, his eyes flashing red as another cheer was heard. “Uhg…. I already have a headache, I can’t do another encore…”

 

Ayano frowned as well. “It’s alright, Shintaro-kun. The talent agents always seem understanding…”

 

“Yeah, that’s just cause, if their star isn’t happy, I will stop performing and they will stop making money.” He looked over at the metal carrying cage and smiled, opening it to reveal a white rabbit, who he took into his arms. “Hey, Tono, did you miss me?” He smiled, petting the bunny. “We’ll get home for some rest soon enough.”

 

“Yeah, but we need to get to the study session as well.” Ayano interjected reluctantly.

 

Shintaro cringed. “Oh right. We need to stop at Haruka’s place then before I get my sleep.” He groaned, pulling out a pain suppressant and downing it quickly before putting Tono back into her carrying cage. “Please, Ayano, just…. tell them I can’t do another encore. I’m already tired enough as it is. I’m going to need all my energy to deal with _her…_ ”

 

“Oh come on, it won’t be so bad.”

 

“That’s what you say…” He sighed, switching out of the red suit, which he personally found obnoxious and unflattering, and into his usual school uniform, and covered it with a red jersey. “She doesn’t try to intentionally piss you off.”

 

“I’m pretty sure she said the same thing about you.” She chuckled lightly to herself, receiving a glare from Shintaro, which he gave up on rather quickly.

 

“Haha, very funny. Let’s just go tell the manager and hop the limo ride while hoping that these don’t go off again.” Shintaro pointed at his eyes, which at this point were pretty much devoid of energy, but occasionally, as his headache worsened, would flicker red. Every time they did there was more excited cheering for an encore. “This medicine better kick in soon...”

 

While the bulk of idol life things didn’t matter to Shintaro, he liked the limo rides for one reason and one reason alone: The limo was quiet and peaceful. He could nurse his headache in near silence and just talk with Ayano alone while Tono played in the built in playscape that Shintaro requested they install. He'd changed into his, much more comfortable, red jersey over his school uniform before leaving, hoping not to catch anyone's attention on the way out.

 

“Really, what did I do to deserve a curse like this.” Shintaro complained, looking himself over in the mirror as his eyes continued to flicker red every so often until the headache started to dull. “Why couldn’t I get a less obnoxious ability, like yours. All you do look at someone and they can feel what you feel. Seems like it’d be better than being swarmed by people constantly.”

 

“Well, none of us asked for this, but it’s been like this for over a year now, so we should keep learning how to deal with it instead of complaining all the time, alright?” Ayano took Shintaro’s hand in hers. “You need a better outlook. At least try to be positive, alright?”

 

Shintaro didn’t even need to look at her eyes to tell her power was active as well. “The power of caring” was what she called it. It sent a warmth through his body and calmed him quite a bit. He smiled back at her. “Alright… Sorry for my attitude…” He sighed, thinking to himself. ‘ _I just wish I could go back to being normal..._ ’  
  
Eventually, they pulled up at the familiar house. Shintaro and Ayano pulled out their school bags and Shintaro carried in Tono as well. They were let in by an older man and told that the others were in Haruka’s room. Shintaro opened the door to the older teen’s room. “Hey, we’re here.”

 

“Took you long enough.” The coarse words came from one Enomoto Takane who appeared to be sitting alone in the room. “Although I don’t even see why you still show up here, you don’t need this extra study time like we do.” She flipped the page in her book, groaning and laying her head on the desk.

 

“Hi, Enomoto… where is Senpai?” Shintaro placed the rabbit’s carrier on the floor and looked over the room but couldn’t seem to  find the taller boy anywhere.

 

“I’m right here…” a disembodied voice replied weakly. Shintaro closed his eyes and shook his head rapidly. And, in fact, Haruka was there, sitting on the bed with a book in his lap and a pencil in his hand. “S-sorry.” He glanced to the side, his eyes fading from red back to their usual grey hue.

 

“Wow, Shintaro. That was rude. You know how insecure Haruka is when it comes to his control over his powers.” She smirked at the younger male. “We thought you’d know how to treat your friends by now. Or are you letting your idol title get the best of you already.”

 

“Can it. I’m still recovering from a headache I got from work. I’d probably have been another hour late if it wasn’t for this. So leave me be while I practice my foreign languages.” He glared at the girl before sighing and looking at Haruka. “And no, you don’t have to apologize, it was my fault for not noticing. I’m sorry.”

 

“Hey guys!” Ayano chimed in. “Yeah, sorry that we were so late. The crowd just adored Shintaro today, so they kept wanting encores.”

 

“Thank the heavens that I have a few days off for the festival. Those agents sure know how to thin out my free time.” Shintaro pulled out two books and leaned against the wall. One was labeled “Easy German Exercises” and the other one was labeled something that was completely illegible to all except Shintaro. It was titled “Englisch-Deutsch-Wörterbuch”

 

“We’re still going to the mall tomorrow, right, Shintaro?”

 

“Yes, Senpai. I made sure that the agents couldn’t try to force me into photo shoots or interviews on the 15th, just so we could hang out while not studying or doing anything like that.” He exhaled a sigh of relief. Finally he’d have some time to relax. “But, well, let’s just get to studying. I probably should leave in a couple hours to get some sleep.”

 

Shintaro flipped to a page in both books and started to speak German relatively fluently. “Hallo. Ich heiße Shintaro Kisaragi. Meine Freundin hat braune Haare und braune Augen. Sie trägt einen roten Schal. Sie ist sehr schön und ich liebe sie, oder… ich denke...” Shintaro blushed slightly, hoping that no one would have a single idea what he was saying. It was too embarrassing to him.

 

“Oi!”

 

“Entschuldigung, bitte?” Shintaro shook his head. “I mean excuse me? Kind of trying to practice here.”

 

“Say something in German to me.” The older girl attempted to goad him on.

 

“No… Leave me to my practice. I need to learn this stuff. They told me that I need to learn most of the European languages before I take my world tour. I thought most countries learned English, but I guess that fact doesn’t matter. It’d probably just a PR thing. I’m not looking forward to it, but hopefully having such an expansive resume will help me get into a good college and the money from the tour will help me pay for it….”

 

“Come on, Shintaro. Humor her.”

 

Shintaro closed the book and cleared his throat. “Du bist ein Schwein.”

 

Takane just stared, not very pleased with how that sounded. “What did you say?”

 

“I called you pretty.”

 

Takane blushed. “Y-yeah, sure you did. Why do I find it hard to believe you?”

 

“Well, if you don’t believe me, then look at the book for yourself.” Shintaro handed Takane the book.

 

She flipped through the pages for a few minutes before exclaiming “What does this even say, you know I can’t read English!”

 

He smirked. “Yeah, I know. Maybe you should have signed up for English while you had a chance. Or you still could, if you get held back again.” The biggest smugass grin was plastered across Shintaro’s face.

 

“Oh yeah, Mr. Wise Ass. You think you’re sooooo much better because you can speak a few words we can’t understand and jump around for a few hours on stage like an idiot.” The moment that someone blinked, it appeared that there were two Shintaros in the room. “Ah yes, I’m the great and all knowing Kisaragi Shintaro. I’m so smart that I must know more than anyone else. I must be better than everyone else cause I have _alllllll_ these cheering fans but really no one likes me, it’s just my dumb eyes that go red and make everyone care about me. Wah wah life is so hard~”

 

“Shut up! And stop using your powers like that!” While Shintaro could handle Takane under most circumstances, the moment she activated her powers, he lost it.

 

“Make me!” Chuckled, changing into his idol outfit. “Look at me, I’m sooooo dreamy with my unnaturally red eyes that anyone should notice from a mile away~ I’m soooo cool with the way that I treat my bunny better than my friends.” Takane was so caught up in her little fun that she hadn’t noticed the rather morose expression on Haruka’s face.

 

“Stop it you two!” Shouted Ayano, her eyes flashing red. “Is it possible for us to have a single meetup where no one argues like this?” Both Takane and Shintaro could feel an instant surge of guilt inside of them. “Look, we know it’s been a long day, and we are all frustrated with these strange powers and with the accident resulting in all of us being held back a year. There’s no reason to be rude about it though… I’m pretty sure Haruka is as sick of the arguing as I am. So, let’s just agree. No more arguing until the end of the day tomorrow. Alright?”

 

The guilty two nodded solemnly and muttered a simultaneous “Sorry” as Takane reverted back to her original shape.

 

“Good. Now, maybe this is a sign that we should all get some sleep so we have energy for tomorrow.”

 

“Good idea, Ayano.” Shintaro yawned. “My headache started to come back anyway, so I should probably get some rest…” He packed up his things. “Sorry I couldn’t stay longer…” He hoisted up his rabbit’s cage in the other arm. “Guten Nacht, meine Freunde. Auf Wiedersehen.”

 

The limo ride home was even more quiet. Shintaro and Ayano didn’t speak much due to nearly falling asleep in the limo.

 

Shintaro waved goodbye as he stepped out in front of his house. The solo limo rode out of the forested area where Ayano’s house was would be a long one and Shintaro was upset that he couldn’t accompany her. It was out of the way and he needed rest. One day he’d have to show her how much he appreciated her, because he couldn’t even imagine a world where she was gone.

 

He carefully carried the case with his small furry companion upstairs with him, walking past the rather noisy room of his sister. “Must be gaming again. She’s talking to her self, as usual. Wonder who this Shuuno guy she's always talking to online is...”

 

His feet dragged across the carpet as he finally got into his room, putting his rabbit back in her enclosure and then plopping face first down on the bed. It’d been a long day, but at least the next day was full of promise. A day out with his friends at the mall. A truce with Takane to stop arguing for once. Nothing could ruin this day for him.

 


	3. Mekakushi Daze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisaragi Shintaro has been looking forward to this day. He finally had one day to do what he wanted fro as long as he wanted to. But would the day with his friends really go on without a hitch?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the unexpected hiatus, but HERE IS A CHAPTER

6am. The incessant beeping of the alarm awoke the idol with a groan. It was alright, though. He only had to survive one test, and then he and his friends would be on their way to the mall. Hopefully, he could pick up the game he wanted to log some hours on it before break was over.

 

After getting dressed, packing his red jersey in his school bag, and feeding and watering the small albino fluff ball of a rabbit who scampered through the maze of tubes throughout his room, he proceeded out the door, once again hearing muffled conversation from his sister’s room. While he was well aware of what she did with her seemingly infinite free time, there were times when she was clearly talking to someone? Maybe they were just playing games together… or it was some creep who saw a picture of her online and wanted to start talking. He worried a lot about her. She spent all her time on the internet and there were plenty of pervs out there who’d want a piece of her, even if she was only 16. He shuddered at the thought. She could only hope that whoever this was didn’t try to mess with her.

 

The limousine sat outside of his house again, Ayano smiling out one of the windows as Shintaro grumbled, sitting next to her. While being near her made him feel a little bit better, his mind was still clouded with thoughts about the future. If he was going to do a world tour one day, would his friends be allowed to come along? Or would that be too much trouble? Furthermore, there was this nervous knot in his chest when ever he focused on her too much. He was never good at expressing himself. After the accident he just wanted to shut people out more. His attention drawing powers caused so many people to flock to him that he was socially overwhelmed whenever not around Haruka. They always acted up at the worst point. They were going to dig his grave some day, he could just feel it. How would he ever tell Ayano the truth if he were to constantly risk being rushed by mindless fan girls before the words could leave his mouth? It seemed hopeless.

 

As if almost on cue, he felt Ayano’s hand over his own balled up fist that was pulling at his pants leg. “Nervous about the test?” She chuckled.

 

Shintaro cocked an eyebrow at the comment. “I’m going to do perfectly fine. If there is anyone who I should be worried about passing, it would be you and Enomoto. Not that this whole thing isn’t asinine in its own right.” He sighed, stopping himself from ranting about the bullshit that was the extra years they’d had to spend in school because of the bus incident. How he’d been switched into the special needs class for makeup work only rubbed salt in the wound. As nice as Haruka-senpai was, he felt like he got a headache just talking to Enomoto, let alone when she started to yell at him. At least he’d get to see her frustrated when he turned his test in much earlier than her.

 

The long car pulled in front of the school, and as expected, he was mobbed with fans. He couldn’t deal with this, he’d be late for class if he stopped there to sate everyone. Instead, he just took Ayano by the hand and forced his way through the crowd, eventually getting to the school door, sealing it behind him. He glanced through the window, catching the reflection of his red eyes for a second. ‘ _Why can’t this power just go away. I’m nobody special. Just make it stop._ ’

 

Already starting to feel a bit drained, Shintaro dragged himself to the classroom, plopping down in one of the four desks. Haruka was doodling away in his sketchbook and Takane was, thankfully, catching a pre-test nap.

 

“Oh, hey Shintaro!” exclaimed Haruka, putting his pencil down before a surprised expression crossed his face. “You seem down… Are you okay?” Haruka was always so nice and oblivious…

 

“Just… don’t leave me alone at all when we get out of school… I can’t put up with another mob of fans.” He slumped over his desk, closing his eyes, dreading the possibility of getting swarmed when at the mall or walking through the streets. Today was his day to relax. He wasn’t willing to put up with this today.

 

Haruka placed a hand on Shintaro’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright. I’ll stay as close to you as possible and make sure no one notices you. Okay?”

 

“Thanks, senpai…” Haruka’s words tended to help calm him down. Haruka being around really did help a lot with his “problem.” Haruka’s powers were pretty much the polar opposite of his own. They allowed him to hide the presence of himself and those around him, but only as long as no one touched them. It did a good job of hiding Shintaro from the hundreds of “fans” that loved to bother him, even on the street. Admittedly, it was a lot more useful to him than Ayano’s power, which only served to calm him down, and Takane’s power, which she seemed to solely use to avoid getting in trouble for sleeping in class and to piss him off. In a way, wouldn’t that make Takane and Ayano’s powers opposite too? The idol let out a slight chuckle until he heard noise from the desk in front of him.

 

“Hnnng… Gah!” Takane jolted awake, looking around. “About time you got here, Shintaro.”

 

Shintaro rolled his eyes. “I’ve been here for 20 minutes now, you were just asleep.” The idol opened one of his language books and started reading it. “You know you don’t have sleep during the day anymore. You’ve been cured since the incident, are you really just going to milk this for all it’s worth?”

 

“Well, when else are you going to play video games other that at midnight with people all over the globe?” She was met with nervous smiles from Ayano and Haruka, and a cocked eyebrow from Shintaro.

 

“.... At a reasonable time of day?” Admittedly, Shintaro was one to talk, his busy schedule resulted in minimal to no game time lately, he almost wondered if Takane had finally had enough extra practice to beat him. He’d just hope that that would be a resounding “no” like usual. Maybe they could have a match today.

 

“Well, that’s a lot coming from someone who--” The gamer was cut off as she felt a hand touch her shoulder. It was Ayano.

 

“Remember, you promised not to argue today.” She narrowed her eyes. “And no unnecessary power use either.”

 

Takane sighed, her eyes flickering back from red to their usual brown. “Awwww, I was just gonna have some fun.” The nervous smile on her face was quickly driven away by a glare from Ayano. “Fine. I didn’t mean any harm though.” She pulled the headphones over her ears and rested her head on the desk. “Aya, your dad’s late again.”

 

Ayano let out a nervous chuckle. “Well, you know how he is.” Everyone was very well aware that Ayano’s dad was the teacher. Shintaro always thought that having your parent as a teacher would make you do a lot better at school, but Ayano seemed to be far from that. Then again, her dad always seemed a bit airheaded, and in Shintaro’s eyes, hardly qualified for the job. He’d shown up late for classes on many occasions, he’d seem much too laid back for many people’s tastes, and Shintaro had heard about misuse of funds happening back before he was transferred into the class.

 

He and Ayano had been moved out of their normal class following the accident for multiple reasons. First off, they’d missed some school and needed to make it up. In addition to that, Shintaro’s new found idol fame was a “distraction” for the other students. By that, they meant that no one was focusing on work because everyone was watching him instead. Their solution was to move him to the special needs class with Ayano so they could catch up in a calm environment. It’s been 2 years since then, and if all went well, this would be the last high school test any of them would ever have to take.

 

“Morning, class.” The brown haired teacher walked in, taking his seat at the desk.

 

“Morning Mr. Tateyama!” the students rang out, each with varying levels of excitement.

 

“You’re late, again.” Shintaro didn’t even bother to look up from his book. “It’s the last day of summer lessons, you’d think that you’d just a little harder to be punctual.”

 

“Now, now Mr. Kisaragi. We all want to get out here as soon as possible. I was late because between the holiday traffic and the traffic from _someone’s_ paparazzi, it was difficult to get here at all.” Takane sneered as Shintaro shrunk back in his chair slightly. Of course it was his fault that the teacher was late. His powers were an inconvenience to everyone. That’s why he couldn’t even take a normal class at his own pace and graduate with everyone else. “But let’s get this over with. Take everything off your desks except for a pencil or pen, and we can get this done. The sooner that you finish, the sooner we will all get to go home and enjoy the festival.”

 

As Shintaro put his book away, he saw Takane’s cocky smirk wiped off her face and replaced with tense resolve and nervousness. As annoying as she was, Shintaro would feel bad if Takane had to take more lessons or was held back again. “Hey… Good luck on the test.”

 

“Yeah, you too…” For once, it didn’t sound sarcastic, Takane must have been really worried, thought Shintaro.

 

“Good luck, Shintaro!” He looked towards the voice. It was Haruka, looking as cheerful as ever.

 

“Yeah, good luck to you too.” Shin smiled slightly. Something about Haruka’s cheery personality always made him a bit happier himself.

 

~*~

 

The test went off as expected, Takane borderline pulling her hair out while Shin was the first to turn his test in after about 20 minutes with Haruka following suit after an hour, and the girls both taking the full 90 minutes. Either way, it was a relief to finally be done with that summer hell. At least they hoped so.

 

Shintaro slipped into the bathroom, changing from his uniform to his casual clothes, hoping to avoid suspicion. Outside the bathroom waited his friends, eager to get going.

 

“You ready, Shintaro?” Haruka asked cheerfully, his eyes a bright red.

 

“Yes, Senpai!” Shintaro smiled, hoisting his school bag over his shoulder.

 

“Great!” exclaimed Haruka. “Let’s go then. Just try not to get separated. We really don’t want the fans to notice Shintaro-kun and interfere with his day off.” They walked out the door, concealment active as they started to walk into the city. The city was packed, so it was very important to watch where they were walking. “You know you don’t have to call me Senpai anymore, right, Shintaro-kun? We’re in the same grade level now.”

 

“Oh well, old habits die hard I guess.” Shintaro shrugged, following the older teen through the crowds.

 

“Woah... “ stated Ayano with awe. “Are all these people really here for the festival?”

 

“I’d guess as much…” mumbled Shintaro, taking in the sights. He’d seen quite a bit of the city, but usually while in his limo and while half asleep, so he never got to truly experience how things were. The city had gone through a bunch of urbanization and build up over the past two years. There was so much to do and so many things to look at, but Shintaro seldom spent any time not on tour throughout the country, or at school. He didn’t even remember this department store opening.

 

“Man, things sure are different around here. But at least all these people are having fun!” Haruka cheered, attempting to lead them in the direction of the mall.

 

“Well, I wish they’d put it back. Things are too noisy around here lately. Too many people…” grumbled Takane.

 

“Cheer up, Takane. At least there’s a game store much closer to where you live compared to before. Besides, we can all make new friends too!”

 

Takane sighed. “You’re too optimistic, Haruka… Really, who would want to be our friends if they knew about these powers we have. People already barely noticed you at school as is.”

 

“Oh, right…” Haruka frowned slightly. “I forgot about that…” She could hear him sniffling.

 

Takane jumped, her twin tails flying up at the sound. “N-no, Haruka. I’m sure you’ll make many friends, we just have to make sure we can trust them before letting them in on our secret. ‘Kay?”

 

“Kay..” The smile returned to his face at the words. “Well, let’s have fun guys!” He smiled, until he noticed something. “Wait… where is Shintaro..?”

 

The group looked around, but couldn’t see him anywhere.

 

“Oh no…”

 

~*~

 

The teen was gazing at all the tall buildings, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he could find a cola machine. It’d just struck him that, since he had to rush in the building at school, he had forgotten to grab anything to drink. He was getting rather tired pretty fast as a result. “Come on… give me that sweet, sweet beverage.” He saw the familiar red symbol. “Bingo!” He ran over to the machine, quickly popping the 1000 yen bill in the machine and receiving his drink. Oh how he savored the satisfying hiss as the pressure was released. Oh how he’d waited for this mo-

 

“Um, excuse me!” A voice called out to him. Shintaro looked behind him, and it was a small girl in a pink dress, running up to him with a boy, about the same age in a blue and white hoodie, in tow. “Are you Kisaragi Shintaro?” Her eyes lit up as she saw his face. “You are! I see you on the news all the time! I love your music!”

 

Shintaro cringed, someone recognized him. “Y-yeah?”

 

“Can I have your autograph!” She held out a copy of his latest album.

 

“O-oh, that would be fine.” He took the CD in his hand, pulling out a permanent marker that he pretty much had to carry everywhere now, and started to sign his name. “And you would be, sweetie?”

 

“Asahina Hiyori, Mr. Kisaragi!” She seemed so excited to meet him. This was one of the draws of being an Idol. At least he knew that he made some people happy.

 

“Alright. Asa...hina… Hi...yo...ri…! There you are. Does your friend want anything?”

 

Hiyori looked at her companion. “Oi, don’t be rude! He asked you a question. Introduce yourself!”

 

The brown haired child glanced away. “Amamiya Hibiya, and no thanks.” He seemed very eager to just get out of there.

 

“Awww, don’t be that way.” He reached down, ruffling the boys hair. It was then that he realized. “Wait, you can see me?”

 

“Uh, yeah. Why would we not see you?”

 

‘ _Oh no…. Oh no… Where did Haruka go?!_ ’ Shintaro began to panic, his eyes flashing red. Within seconds, he was surrounded by fans. “Please no, not this again!” Shintaro shoved the cd back into the girl’s hands. “I’m sorry I have to go, bye!” And off he ran, the crowd of people chasing him.

 

“What a weirdo.” muttered the boy, starting to walk away from the scene, until he received a glare from his friend. “What’s that for!”

 

“You have to understand that idols tend to be eccentric types. He probably has a lot of things to do.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

~*~

 

It took at least twenty minutes, but Shintaro managed to escape from his fans. It exhausted most of his energy, but he was finally alone again. “Scheisse… Every single time…. Why did I walk away from senpai…” He sighed. It was then that he realized he left his soda at the machine. “And I wasted my soda… I’m sorry my sweet, sweet cola…” He slumped down against the wall. He’d lost his soda, lost his friends, and almost lost his mind at this point. His day was slowly getting worse and worse, and he could only guess it would continue that path until he eventually lost his sanity, curled up into a ball, and died.

 

“Hey there. You look kind of troubled, pal.” Shintaro lifted his head, and looked up at the owner of the voice. He was rather tall, had black hair, and yellow-green eyes. He seemed to be wearing some sort of boiler suit with goggles sewn on the hood. He looked almost like a frog or something when wearing that much green. “You could use some help, couldn’t you?”

 

“Ah, no thanks.” Something about this guy seemed a little.. off. He was too friendly. He probably wanted something from him. “Carry on, nothing to see here.”

 

“Kisaragi Shintaro, right? The idol?” The cheery voice chimed in. It was just as Shintaro expected.

 

“One of my fans, huh? Please, normally I’d be able to do whatever you want, take pics with you, sign all the merch you own, but I’m really not in the mood. So if you could please-”

 

“You’re looking for your friends, right?” Shintaro starred in awe at the man. “3 of them, two girls and a boy.”

 

“How do you..?” Okay, this was freaking the idol out. “Have you been stalking me?!”

 

The taller boy raised his hands up “N-no, not at all!” He sighed, lowering his head. “I know you have a problem, and I want to help. After all, being the center of attention at all times is hard, right? Especially when you can’t control it.” Shintaro looked at him, slowly backing away. “Don’t be afraid.”

 

“I’m going to call the police on you…! You…! You creepy frog man!” He lifted up his phone.

 

“You and I both know you don’t want to do that..”

 

“How do you know?!” His hand was shaking. “Why do you know all these things about me if you’re not some kind of stalker!”

 

The taller man moved closer to him, lifting up his head. Shintaro was met with red eyes. “I’m just like you.”

 

Shintaro was panicking, causing him to sweat profusely. He wasn’t sure if it was dehydration, shock, or what, but he collapsed then and there.

 

“Oh no…” sighed the man. “Guess I better take care of him.” The green clothed man pulled out his phone, calling a number. “Mary, we have a little problem here…”

 

~*~

 

“Woah! That is some building!” The small grey virus looked through the phone’s camera at the expansive structure before him. “State of the art, huh?”

 

“Yep! The best technology money can buy according to what I’ve seen on the news.” The redhead wiped the sweat from her brow. “Well, let’s get what we need and get out.”

 

“But Maaaaaaasssssssteeeeeeeer! That’s no fun! You haven’t been out of the house in like, a year! Look! It has an amusement park on top of it! Let’s go there!” The small boy looked at Momo with such awe and wonder.

 

“Shuuno, you can’t even ride any of the rides. You’ll just be sitting in my pocket the entire time.” She glanced down at him to see him frowning.

 

“Please, Master? It’ll only be long enough to ride the ferris wheel and maybe the up and down thing! Pleeeeeeease?” Shuuno attempted to plead with her.

 

“I said no. We’re gonna get my keyboard and get out. Maybe another day.”

 

“Fine, but don’t be surprised if you find your computer has done a factory reset tonight.”

 

Momo cringed. It was one thing if she lost gameplay for one game or a couple videos, but the amount of data she didn’t have backed up was massive. If she lost some of those folders, she’d never be able to find the files again. And her programs. She could probably illegally download them, but without the access code files, she’d have to re-register them and pay again. While it might also get rid of Shuuno, he probably had back-ups on the internet, so chances were that he could just delete all her data and hijack her system to do his bidding. “Alright, alright! We’ll go to the amusement park!”

 

“Yay! Amusement Park! Amusement Park! Thank you Goshujin!” He blew a kiss at her. “I love you~!”

 

Momo’s cheeks reddened. “Shut up you pile of pixels!” She sighed. She was never used to this teasing. She thought an AI that knew what an outcast she was wouldn’t even try to joke about having feelings for her. He was just data, nothing more. A mistake that had gotten into a document at school. It could have happened to anyone.

 

Taking one final look at the large building, she gulped. “Well, here goes everything…” Pulling the hood further over her head, she walked in, the sliding doors closing behind her.

 

 


End file.
